What is the level of investments made so far in algae fuel development?
To develop algae biofuel as a viable commercial fuel, a large investment of starting capital and several years of research and development will be required. In 2006, about $15 million were invested in this industry by venture capital companies (Source: Oilgae estimates). In 2007, investment rose to $32 million. In 2008, until end of Oct, about $180 million in venture capital money has been raised for algae research. (Source: Cleantech) In July 2009, Exxon Mobil signed a $600 million dollar multi-year partnership with a biotechnology company, Synthetic Genomes, which is the largest and most serious investment that has been made thus far in the development of commercial algae biofuel.
